A NEW café aimed at people living with Dementia is opening its doors in Leamington.
Fran Scott and Steve Cooper first came up with the idea for the Forget Me Not café four years ago and are now turning their dreams into reality having rented a property in Clarendon Avenue from Warwick District Council.
And it has all been made possible thanks to a Covid-19 recovery loan from Coventry and Warwickshire Reinvestment Trust (CWRT). The Recovery Loan Scheme is aimed at supporting businesses as well as accessing finance as they recover and grow from Covid.
Ms Scott said this loan was a great help to the Forget Me Not café, which is aimed at those with dementia but also looks to be disabled-friendly.
Ms Scott spoke to the Alzheimer’s Society and Age UK to get advice on providing a home-from-home café for vulnerable members of the community.
She explained: “We have taken their suggestions on how to develop the café with details such as not having black tiles on the floor since people with dementia can sometimes think there is a hole in the floor, and we’re going to have memory boxes with artifacts from the 1930’s onwards because often people with dementia have short-term memory loss but can recall films or news events from their youth.
“We are now aiming to open in the next two months and as a charity, we are looking for volunteers from the community who are builders that could work at cost as well as volunteers to work in the café including those with learning disabilities.
“We are employing a fully-qualified chef to create all the items on the menu which we will be adapting for our customers, and we are also hoping to attract students and shoppers so that all members of the community can mingle with each other”.
Martin Nwangwa, account manager at the CWLEP Growth Hub, added: “We made the initial approach to find out if there was an opportunity to provide assistance, and we initially referred the Forget Me Not café to Coventry & Warwickshire CDA for charity grants, and then CWRT.
“It is great to have played a part in helping the charity get up and running and underlines that the Growth Hub is here to help in all sectors to boost the economy”.
